This thread comes from a conversation with my friends about the Rockets and how good they really are so I bring forth the question to my fellow Rocket fans. What constitutes a good season for the Rockets at the end of the day for you? Here are some of the top and obvious choices: -The winning streak: 22 freaking wins in a row! That is simply amazing. I still can't believe it lasted so long when you think about how the supposed "better" Western Conference powerhouses had their double-digit winning streaks snapped by teams we blew out without our other superstar. Amazing. Started the streak with no Mac or a limpy Mac and continued it without Yao and then without Landry! Amazing feat for the Rockets. -Winning the Southwest Division: This is the toughest Division in the league hands-down. When you look at the Rockets, Spurs, Mavs, and Hornets, that is some serious competition for you! If the Rockets can hold on and win the division title, something that hasn't been done since 1994, that would be a good accomplishment for the team. -Winning the number one seed in the West: This would be another great accomplishment for the Rockets since the West is so tough and the Rockets haven't done it also for more than a decade. Even though we got a tough schedule coming up, the rest of the West's top teams also have inner-conference games so this is not completely out of reach. I would love to see the Rockets as the number 1 seed even though we were proclaimed dead long ago! -Winning a first round series: This seems to be the Holy Grail of the Houston Rockets since it also has not been done for in more than a decade. After the tough defeats the last two times in the playoffs, this would be a great treat for us fans and would definitely put the Rockets in the right directions. I left of Western Conference semi-finals, conference finals, and the NBA finals because those are all what we hope this team can accomplish and I think we have a 35%-45% chance of getting to one of those points. I really can't see this team being a fluke after winning 22 games and believe that the Celtics just had a little more energy tonight than we did and that the toll of the winning streak might have gotten the better of us. At times we seemed flat-footed and hesitant but hopefully we go back to being loose and hustling. For me, I think I would be completely satisfied with either the Division title or Conference's first seed. When you consider that both of those are the best in the entire league, that would be a great accomplishment for this team. We all want that first round victory and some more, but it does not hurt to sometimes take baby-steps and those two would be a great accomplishment for the Rockets. And then come next year, we are hopefully healthy and ready to blast off right now the start of the season.
get first round victory. the 22 game streak is nice. But it will only feel sweet when we do something good at playoff. I would hate to hear someone talk about another history--first rounder with longest winning streak. That is even worse than what happened to Dallas last year.
Let's think this through. If we win the No. 1 seed but don't get out of first round you'll be fine with that and say the season was a success? I sure as heck will be down in the dumps if that happens not only cause we lost but because there is no way T-Mac lasts through the offseason. Then winning the Southwest division. That would make us at worst 4th seed. So again what I said above just to a lesser degree. Also winning the division for the first time in a long time over a team that is the team of the 2000's would make me expect 2nd round in the least. If we are teh 5-8 seed and lose in first round I will be okay. I will think to myself well we didn't have Yao and did the best we could without him. The team rallied when he went down showing the character they have and that bodes well for next year when Yao is back. So if we lose in this scenario I will of course be disappointed since T-Mac couldn't do it again (not saying its on him just saying i would be sad for him because the attention it will get) but I would consider it a success considering the hand we were dealt.
Make the playoff, This season is not a failure; Make out of the 1st round, This season is a success; Anything beyond that, This season is a great success. Really hope Yao is still with his teammates now, sigh A little OT, we should really find a good backup center this offseason, Yao shouldn't play more than 32mins average a game if you want him to play the full season healthy.
I understand what you are saying, but is there any series where we would be the favorites? If we grab the first seed and go against the Nuggets or Warriors, then that is going to be considered a toss up or closely contested first round series. The "experts" and bookies are going to be split on who could win the series. More than likely, it will appear to be a first round series. I think we can take the Nuggets simply because their pieces just don't fit well together and against our stellar defense, we can hinder that offense and win in the half court. Against the Warriors, it will be a bit tougher just because they are use to running without a true big man and they have Baron Davis! Dude is insane! If we get a 2-4 seed, then we are looking at match ups versus the Jazz, Hornets, Suns, Mavs, or possibly Spurs. Outside of maybe the Jazz, we are not going to be favored against any of those teams. They are all going to be 100% and with their full teams in tact. To me, that is a tough challenge. I think we can take the Hornets because our forwards are good enough to constantly switch on Paul and force him to either shot or create, but not allow him to do both for his team. Plus the inexperience of that team, maybe the only team less experienced than us, will be a good thing for us. Jazz would also seem to be a good match-up for us because outside of Boozer and maybe his back-up (completely forget his name right now; I keep thinking Maxiell, but he is Detroit's version ), they don't have any solid low-post threats. But the Spurs and Suns might be us a lot of problems because they have tough front court players that can rebound and clog up the paint. The Mavericks are always a tough match-up for us so I don't know how to read that. Devin Harris always killed us, but we haven't seen Dirk/Kidd/Terry/Howard together. Plus, their big man is a p***y! That is why I think a division title is still a big accomplishment for us if we get it. The match-ups are very tough and come playoff time, teams are going to have lots of days in between games and they can fix their game play to force us into becoming a perimeter-oriented team completely. With no Yao out there, we are going to be suspect for scoring droughts. That is not good in the playoffs. I still think we have a great shot at getting a first round win since we control our destiny and can fix the match-up in our favor (maybe by losing a couple here and there ). All I am saying is that if we get a tough match-up and push the team to six or seven games without Yao, that to me is still a successful season. Our rookies get good playoff experience and management can see what they need to improve in the upcoming off-season.
